Car washing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A car washing apparatus including a pair of vertically extending rotatable brushes which is mounted on a frame for transverse translational movement and for swinging movement in a longitudinal vertical plane, the transverse movement and the rotation of the brushes being started when the swinging movements of the brushes are detected.

[ July 24, 1973 United States Patent [1 1 Takeuchi CAR WASHING APPARATUSPrimary Examiner+Edward L. Roberts Attorney Karl W. F locks [75]Inventor: Shigeo Takeuchi, Nagoya, Japan [7 3] Assignee: Takeuchi TelrkoKabushiki Kalsha,

Nagoya, Japan Jan. 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 214,861

ABSTRACT [22] Filed:

A car washing apparatus including a pair of vertically extendingrotatable brushes which is mounted on a [52] US. Cl. 15/21 E, l5/DIG. 2

frame for transverse translational movement and for [51] Int. Cl. B6053/06 [58] Field of Search....................... 15/D1G. 2, 21 D,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,601,833Takeuchi...............'.........,.... 15/21 E 5 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures PATENTEUJUL24 ma 3.7471151 SHEEI 1 (IF 2 CAR WASHING APPARATUSof rotatable brushes are mounted on a stationary or movable frame andadapted to be put into washing contact with a car body. Usually in suchan apparatus, front and rear surfaces of a car are washed by means of ahorizontal brush which is rotatable about a horizontal axis andsupported by swingable arms for vertical movement, while side surfacesof the car body are washed by a pair of vertical brushes which arerotatable about vertical axes and supported by horizontally swingablearms. However, such a conventional car washing apparatus cannotsatisfactorily clean car body surfaces of complicated configuration andrequires an increased space for allowing the movement of swing armssupporting each rotatable brushes.

The present invention has an object to eliminate the aforementioneddisadvantages of the conventional car washing apparatus. 7

Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact yeteffective car washing apparatus.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a car washingapparatus which has only a pair of vertical brushes for washing sidesurfaces as well'as front and rear surfaces of a car body.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention canbe attained by providing a car washing apparatus comprising a frame, apair of vertical brushes, means for supporting the brushes fortransverse translational movement and swinging movement in alongitudinal vertical plane, means for sensing the swinging movement ofthe brushes and starting the transverse movement of the brushes andmeans for biasing the brushes toward each other. According to apreferred aspect of the present invention, the frame is longitudinallymovable, and means is provided for stopping the movement of the framewhen the swinging movement of the brushes is sensed. The frame canthereafter be restarted to move in the longitudinal direction when thebrushes are transversely moved until they are apart from each other by apredetermined distance. v

The above and other features of the present invention will become clearfrom the following descriptions of a preferred embodiment thereof whichwill be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the car washing apparatus in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of brush support mechanismemployed in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an end view as seen in the direction of arrow A A in FIG. 2;and

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the apparatus of the present invention inuse.

Referring to the drawings, the present invention is shown as embodied inan apparatus having a frame which is movable along guide rail means andwashing means mounted on the frame. The apparatus includes a frame (1)which is movable along a pair of parallel guide rails (32) and has atransversely extending shaft (2) mounted thereon by means of a pair ofbearings (3). The shaft (2) supports a guide frame (4) of rectangularcross-section. A guide rail (5) is secured to each of the upper andlower surfaces of the guide frame (4) along the whole length thereof. Apair of movable brackets (6) are supported on the guide frame (4) andeach has guide rollers (7) and (7') for engagement with the guide rails(5) so that the bracket is guided along the guide rails (5).

Each of the movable brackets (6) rotatably supports on its one sidesurface a vertical shaft (8) by means of a pair of bearings (9). At thelower end of the shaft 8), there is secured a brush (10) which may be ofa conventional shape. Each of the vertical shafts (8) is in drivingconnection at its upper end through a transmission mechanism with amotor (11) mounted on the other side surface of the bracket (6). Thus,each of the brushes (10) can be rotated by the associated motor (1 l Inorder to move each of the movable brackets (6) along the guide frame(4), a driving linkage (L) is provided for each bracket at the roofportion (1') of the frame l If should be noted that both drivinglinkages (L) are identical in structure so that only one of them will beexplained. The mechanism (L) has an actuating flarm (l2) pivotallysupported at its one end for swinging movement in a horizontal plane asshown by the reference numberal (13). The other end of the arm (12) isconnected with one end of a link (14) which is pivotally mounted at theother end to the bracket (6).

A bracket (15) secured to the roof portion (1 of the frame (1')swingably supports one end of a crank arm (16) which is in engagement atits free end with the intermediate portion of the actuating arm (12).The crank arm (16) is connected through a transmission mechanism (17) toa motor (18) so that the crank arm (16) is rotated by the motor (18) toswing the actuating arm (12). Thus, the bracket (6) is moved along theguide frame (4) through the link (14). The movement of the arm (12) iscontrolled by for example a limit switch (not shown) which is actuatedby the arm. The motor (18) and the transmission mechanism may be soarranged that they simultaneously actuate both of the linkages (L).

Control means (C) for the motor (18) is provided one for each transverseend of the frame (1). Since both of the control means (C) are identicalin structure, only one of them will be explained. Referring to FIG. 2,the support shaft (2) has a swing arm (19) secured at its lower end toone end of the shaft. The upper end of the arm (19) is connected withneutral spring means icluding a pair of compression springs (20). Anactuating rod (21) is connected at its one end to the intermediateportion of the arm (19), the other end of the rod being connected to aneccentric sector plate (22). The sector plate (22) has a cam edge (23)for co-operation with an actuating arm (25) of a microswitch (24). Whenthe brush (I0) is brought into contact with a car body (V), the drivingshaft (8) is caused in incline together with the bracket (6), the guideframe (4) and the support shaft (8), so that the swing arm (19) is alsocaused to swing as shown by an arrow in FIG. 2. Thus, the sector plate(22) is'correspondingly rotated to actuate the switch (24). Therefore,the motor (18) is started.

Each of the movable brackets (6) is secured to one end of a cable (26)or (26') which is passed around a pulley (27) or (27') and has at theother end a counter balance weight (28) or (28'). Therefore, the pair ofbrakcets (6) are biased toward each other by the weights (28) and (28)to the position shown in FIG. 1.

Further, in the drawings, the reference numeral (29) designates a motorfor driving the movable frame (1), a driven wheel (30), (32) an idlerwheel (31), on a pair of guide rails.

The operation of the apparatus in accordance with the present inventionwill now be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a car body (V) is positionedbetween the rails (32). At this moment, the frame (1) is at the rightend position as shown by solid lines in FIG. 4 and the brushes (10) arein central positions under the influence of the weights (28) and (28).The motors (l1) and (29) are then started to cause the frame (1) to movein the direction shown by an arrow (a) in FIG. 4 and, at the same time,to rotatingly drive the brushes (10) in the directions shown by arrows(b) and (c). As the frame (1) is advanced, the brushes (10) come intocontact with the front surface of the car body (V) so that the brushes(10) are caused to incline due to a further advancing movement of theframe (1).

Thus, the shafts (8), the brackets (6) and the guide frame (4) arecaused to swing as a unit producing a rotation of the support shaft (2).Thus, the arm (19) is swung against the action of the neutral spring(20) as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 2. Therefore, the rod (21) ispulled to turn the sector plate (22) until the microswitch (24) isclosed.

It should be noted that, in this mechanism, the angle of rotation of thesupport shaft (2) is amplified by the swing arm (19) so as to give asubstantial rotation to the sector plate (22). Therefore, the limitswitch (24) is positively actuated through a small inclination of thebrushes (8). Further, the neutral spring (20) serves to absorb any shockload which may be produced when the brushes (10) are brought intoabutting engagement with the car body.

When the limit switch (24) is actuated as descrbed above, the motor (29)is stopped and at the same time the motor (18) is started. Thus, theframe (1) is stopped and the driving linkages (L) are operated. Themotor (18) drives the crank arms (16) through the transmission mechanisml7 so that the arms (12) are turned outwardly to move the brackets (6)outwardly along the guide rails on the guide frame (4). Therefore, thebrushes are caused to move outwardly washing the front surface, frontgrill and front bumper of the car (V).

When the arms (12) are swung outwardly to the maximum extent, a limitswitch (not shown) is actuated so as to restart the motor (29). Thus,the frame (1) is again started to advance.

As the motor (18) continues to rotate, the crank arm (16) is rotatedindependently from the arm (12) and a limit switch (not shown) isprovided so that the motor (18) is stopped when the crank arm (16)reaches the initial position shown in FIG. 1. I

As the brushes (10) are moved from contact with the front surface of thecar body, the guide frame (4) and the movable brackets (6) are returnedto the initial position by the action of the neutral spring (20) so thatthe brushes (10) are returned to the vertical position.

Since the brackets (6) are biased toward each other by the weights (28)and (28'), the brushes (10) are forced into washing contact with theside surfaces of the car body with appropriate contact pressure. Whenthe frame (1) comes to the left end position in FIG. 4, the motor (29)and (11) are stopped. A similar operation is performed by moving theframe (1) in the reverse direction as shown by an arrow (d) and rotatingthe brushes in the directions shown by arrows (e) and (5). When theframe (1) reaches the right end position in FIG. 4, the motors (29) and(11) are stopped and the whole cycle of operation is completed.

In the above embodiment, the movable brackets (6) are explained as beinginwardly biased by the weights (28) and (28), however, a similar biasingmeans such as spring means may also be employed. Further, it should benoted that the present invention is also effective when it is applied toan apparatus having a stationary frame instead of a movable frame. Othermodifications may also be made to the details of the illustratedarrangement without departing from the scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A car washing apparatus comrpising a main frame movable along a pairof guide rails disposed on ground, a transverse guide frame mounted onsaid main frame and rotatable about its own axis, a pair of bracketsmounted on said guide frame and movable therealong, a rotatable brushvertically suspended by each of said brackets, means for rotating saidbrushes, means for moving said brackets transversely outwardly alongsaid guide frame, menas for biasing said brackets toward each other, aswing arm connected to one end of the guide frame and adapted to actuatea microswitch when the guide frame is rotated about its axis forcontrolling the movement of the brackets and the rotation of thebrushes.

2. A car washing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which saidswing arm is connected with one end of a rod which is in turn connectedat the other end with a sector member having a cam surface for acutatingthe microswitch.

3. A car washing apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which thetransverse movement of said brackets and the rotation of said brushesare started when the brushes are caused to incline by being abutted to acar body, and means being provided for stopping the transverse movementof the brackets when they reach the extreme outboard end of theirtravel.

4. A car washing apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which saidmeans for moving the brackets includes a swingable member connected toeach of the brackets, and a crank member adapted to be driven by a motorand engageable to the swingable member for transmitting the power fromthe motor.

5. A car washing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which saidbiasing means comprises a suspended weight for each bracket.

1. A car washing apparatus comrpising a main frame movable along a pairof guide rails disposed on ground, a transverse guide frame mounted onsaid main frame and rotatable about its own axis, a pair of bracketsmounted on said guide frame and movable therealong, a rotatable brushvertically suspended by each of said brackets, means for rotating saidbrushes, means for moving said brackets transversely outwardly alongsaid guide frame, menas for biasing said brackets toward each other, aswing arm connected to one end of the guide frame and adapted to actuatea microswitch when the guide frame is rotated about its axis forcontrolling the movement of the brackets and the rotation of thebrushes.
 2. A car washing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in whichsaid swing arm is connected with one end of a rod which is in turnconnected at the other end with a sector member having a cam surface foracutating the microswitch.
 3. A car washing apparatus in accordance withclaim 1, in which the transverse movement of said brackets and therotation of said brushes are started when the brushes are caused toincline by being abutted to a car body, and means being provided forstopping the transverse movement of the brackets when they reach theextreme outboard end of their travel.
 4. A car washing apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, in which said means for moving the bracketsincludes a swingable member connected to each of the brackets, and acrank member adapted to be driven by a motor and engageable to theswingable member for transmitting the power from the motor.
 5. A carwashing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said biasing meanscomprises a suspended weight for each bracket.